


The Wilds

by jaerie



Series: The Wilds [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Animal Instincts, Animalistic, Bonding, Dubious Consent, Exhibitionism, Forced Bonding, Knotting, Knotting Dildos, M/M, Mating Bites, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Rituals, Omega Louis, Public Masturbation, Public Sex, Rape/Non-con Elements, Scent Kink, Scent Marking, Scenting, Self-Lubrication, Soul Bond, if that makes any difference to a potential reader, rape is instinctual urges not malicious intent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 07:48:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15310824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaerie/pseuds/jaerie
Summary: The creatures that Louis observed every day weren't exactly human, but yet they were.  Researchers had plucked some of them from their secluded island and transplanted them into an enclosure against their will like a bunch of zoo animals.  Louis didn't think they were.  But he was only paid to do the yardwork, he didn't have any say about the wilds that lived there.  That was until an unfortunate accident changed his life forever and made one wild in particular his top priority.





	The Wilds

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this came from but I wrote this entire thing in less than 24 hours. I have no explanation. But enjoy. 
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge that a group of us are participating in for the prompt "Hope". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_hope/works), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works) or find the masterpost for this year’s challenge here.
> 
>  
> 
> **I hate that this has to be said but here we go. I do not allow any of my works to be translated or reposted to any platform. This includes, but is not limited to, Wattpad, Tumblr, other AO3 accounts. Reposting and “giving credit” is not an authorized use of my content. Any translations or reposted material will be reported immediately.**

* * *

 

 

 

At 25 years old, Louis had imagined a lot of places he would be by the time he reached his age.  He’d imagined himself acting, even if just small roles. He had imagined himself teaching, probably something like physical education or drama instead of something more academic, but still.  

The last place he imagined himself being was working a minimum wage job doing manual labour outdoors. 

Granted, it could be worse.  At least he always seemed to be the center of attention when he got together with his old uni friends or had dinner with his family, because it wasn’t the actual job but rather where the job was that made it fascinating for anyone who wasn’t able to see it for themselves.  

Louis’ actual knowledge of the situation was pretty basic– just like the general public.  A few years before, it had been headline news on every television network, newspaper and magazine around the world.  It had been one of the most bizarre and captivating things mankind had ever seen, after all. 

A secluded island had been discovered by some marine biologists that had strayed off their set course.  It wasn’t the island itself that had been the discovery– it had been vaguely noted geographically but had never seemed to be of real interest.  They had dropped their anchor just off the beach. Thinking the island was deserted, the couple had gone ashore to explore and waste a day in a private paradise.  Only they found that the island wasn’t quite as deserted as they had first thought. 

It was inhabited by a species that appeared to be human yet there were so many things that set them apart from the rest of the humans in the world just by sight.  They had adopted mannerisms and movements similar to those of chimpanzees, went without clothing and easily scared like any other wild animal. They moved around in a crouch with the weight on the balls of their feet, slinking through the trees and brush skillfully which made them nearly invisible when they wanted to be.  Since the creatures had no reason to be on high alert, the couple had stumbled upon them by surprise, able to get a good look before they scattered away from sight. 

Wreckage of a ship nearby wove some theories together on the origins of these strange creatures that intrigued scientists and behaviourists and every other type of anthropologist imaginable.  The Malenza had been an English passenger ship on its maiden voyage in 1850 when it had been lost at sea. Filled with immigrants and dreams of better lives ahead, the ship was en route to the United States carrying nearly 1000 voyagers, including the crew.  Once the ship’s arrival date had come and gone with no word on its whereabouts, they mourned the loss of the souls on board and no further information was ever uncovered of its fate. 

Washed up onto the rocks, the surviving passengers had learned to live off the land, procreating and reverting to their most primal stages out of necessity and lack of contact with the civilized world.  

In order to more closely study their behaviour, a group of researchers had captured some of the wilds– as Louis affectionately called them– and brought them back to a specially built habitat funded by several universities and individual donors.  

Which was where Louis came into play.  

Directionless after uni, Louis had bummed around his mother’s house until she had finally put her foot down and told him that he needed to find a job and start supporting himself.  She had raised a strong omega and she would not watch him waste the life she had set him up for. He’d applied to every job posting in the paper and the habitat project was the first to call him in for an interview.  The pay was shit, the work was sometimes hard and annoying, but he also didn’t mind it at all. More often than not, he had time to slack off and just wander around the perimeter, strolling along the tall chain length fences or around the observation catwalks built high above the ground over the enclosure.  

He liked to watch the wilds interacting while he made sure their water lines were cleaned, liked to see their fascination while he sang to himself as he pruned the trees, giggled when they scattered and hid from the sound as he moved with the weed eater along the edge of the fences.  Direct contact was never allowed so Louis had never been closer than 6 feet away from one, but that only made him more curious. 

It was for his own safety that he could only work inside the enclosure once the wilds were secured in a different area.  He’d seen some of the aggressive displays between the alphas before with his own eyes and had stared in horrified shock while he saw them draw blood.  The fight had been over the rights to an omega and, being an omega himself, Louis was more than happy to keep a safe distance. There was no telling how they would react to fresh blood being tossed into their group, especially after they all showed signs of being lonely and bored with such a small group of their kind so far away from what they knew.  Their best estimate had been a population of around 150 on the island though it had been hard to be sure since they were experts at hiding and skittish around the researchers that ventured on shore. 

There were a few wilds that Louis considered his favourites.  One was a younger girl, a beta, with long brown hair that fell around her body like a cape and bright blue eyes.  Something about her reminded him of his sister and he felt oddly protective of her when she appeared nervous around the others.  It wasn’t difficult to pick up on the fact that she had been captured alone without anyone from her family. Louis always felt sad and worried for her.  He always tried to sneak in and throw her some extra treats if he could lure her into one of the corners away from the others. She’d stare at him up on the catwalks, oddly trusting for such a young thing.  

His other favourite was a male alpha that was probably around his own age, give or take.  His dark hair exploded into crazy curls that sometimes looked matted and tangled like an overused scouring pad and other times bounced in ringlets like a damn Pantene ad.  It was because of this that Louis had internally nicknamed him Hairball which he eventually changed to Harry to make it more civilized. After all, as primitive as they might have seemed, they weren’t dogs.  The wild never seemed to be upset or bothered by his hair being messy but would also occasionally spend hours curled up on his own picking the knots free of the rats nest on top of his head and would then have beautiful curls until it all ended up in a mess all over again.  Louis would never admit that he had also spent hours sitting off to himself on the floor of the catwalk watching him do it, dangling his legs over the edge and playing with his own hair while he leaned his arms onto one of the safety bars that was just the right height. 

One of the researchers had found him there one day, not upset at all and happy to tell Louis some things about his favourite wild.   They estimated Harry to be around his age as well, a viral alpha that had shown signs of actively seeking a mate. With only 20 wilds in the enclosure compared to their home island, the researcher explained that the alpha was growing depressed and they were in the process of capturing more omegas from the island so they could study mating patterns.  

Both sides of that story made Louis sad.  Sad for Harry for being so lonely and sad for the omegas that were probably being ripped from their homes as they spoke.  Louis had seen the alpha’s behaviour, though, and could tell he was desperate for a companion. The researchers called it peacocking but Louis just found it obscene.  And slightly erotic though he’d never admit that out loud either. He often saw Harry squatting low to the ground with legs wide and knees up to his ears, slowly stroking his hard cock while he stared intensely at any potential mate that was within scenting distance.  

The fact of the matter was that the wilds weren’t another species at all.  They were humans who’d had no need to keep their instincts in check for over 150 years, humans that had picked up mannerisms and behaviours to survive on an island with no grocery stores down the block or clubs to chat up a date.  

They were humans and Louis wasn’t immune to their scents and behaviours even if they weren’t acceptable in respectable society.  Which was why when Louis looked up from clearing a patch of thistles one day to find himself the sole focus of Harry’s lustful stare, his omega body reacted with a rush of slick and a shiver that made him whimper in submission.  If any alpha in public had looked at Louis with even a fraction of the intensity that the wild had, Louis would have been on the phone with the police as fast as he could fumble his phone out and demand an escort home. But with Harry, it was such a pure and instinctual intention that his body easily obeyed the alpha and froze, eye contact so intense that tears started to gather at the corners of his eyes.  They stayed like that, 10 feet apart and separated by a heavy duty chain length fence, while Harry jerked his big alpha cock and Louis’ slick continued to flow. In another world, Louis would be all over an alpha that seemed so biologically compatible. 

Louis could see the flair of the alpha’s nostrils and knew it was his own scent spiking the breeze.  He considered it confirmed a moment later when the alpha made a show of scenting the air before decorating the grass in front of himself with powerful shots of come.  Louis’ attention was glued to the scene like he was drawn to the aftermath of a car crash, watching as the wild made a show of displaying his engorged knot and then crawled forward to first drag his balls through his own come and then rub the rest of it into his skin around his crotch to make his intentions absolutely clear, to make his scent too pungent to ignore.  

Louis had never seen anything like it in his life, he couldn’t look away.  He had unquestionably soaked slick through his khaki cargo shorts. He didn’t even have to check.  

Just as suddenly as the encounter had started, a loud noise startled them both and had the wild scrambling back into the cover of the makeshift forest and Louis holding the bunch of severed thistles in a gloved hand behind himself to cover the wet stain and hope that he still had an extra pair in his locker to change into.  

That night, alone in his tiny studio apartment while he tried to tune out the dripping sink that his shitty landlord didn’t seem to think was a priority, his nose twitched with the memory of the wild’s potent alpha scent and his hole clenched from the image of such a large prominent knot that was so purposely being displayed just for him.  Louis had never thought of himself as someone interested in come play, but watching the alpha massage his own load into his erogenous zones and scent glands had stirred something up deep inside his omega and made him ponder the kink for the first time. 

Louis wasn’t some deprived omega.  He’d had sex before, with alphas and even a few betas.  It had been a while since he had been in a relationship and his one night stands had tapered off since his uni years mainly because going out to a club to pull hadn’t seemed as appealing since all his mates had moved on or started on career paths that didn’t leave much time for going out.  It hadn’t even bothered him all that much either. Saving what little extra money he had after his rent and diet of cheap pasta for weed seemed like a better option than wasting it on cover and drinks at the club. When he thought of it that way, it felt like he was paying for sex that wasn’t even guaranteed to happen.  

But even though he had experience, he’d never been close enough with any alpha to let them knot him or help him through a heat and that was where he was lacking.  Alpha’s always had a certain possessive and instinctual approach to sex on varying scales, but without the brain scramble of heat or rut pheromones or the promise of knotting inside, Louis had never been fucked the way his omega truly craved it.  

He dug out his fancy expensive knotting dildo he reserved solely for his heats– the one he’d splurged on when he’d finally been old enough to enter the sex shop and yet to have the guilt of spending money on frivolous things– and rolled onto his stomach with his hips pushed up in an exposed mating pose.  The head of his cock just grazed the surface of his blanket and made his whole body shiver with the sensation. 

Conjuring up a fantasy, Louis imagined that the light tickle was blades of grass against his slit, chest pressed into the earth and presenting in the open air of nature.  He plunged himself into what he imagined was the mentality of a wild, overcome with his heat and ready to attract a virile alpha to knot him full. He fingered himself open as he imagined a scuffle taking place behind him, two alphas displaying their dominance and strength for the chance to mate him.  

He’d made it a point to make his fantasy anonymous, generic bodies and blank faces assigned to the alphas, but as soon as the scene progressed to the alpha draping himself over Louis’ body to scent mark him, Louis had already slipped up to imagine the ends of long curls tickling over his shoulders and big strong hands gripping his hips.  

It had been Harry’s obscene display that had brought him to this, anyway, so it was inevitable that it was Harry who had won out for the chance to mount him.  Holding the dildo behind him with one hand, he let the tip poke against his skin several times in search of his hole like he imagined that would be the way it would happen.  He didn’t think it would be part of feral instinct for an alpha to grab their own cock to gracefully guide it in. That wasn’t how nature worked. He didn’t think. 

The tip slipped through his slick and once it caught on his hole, Louis shoved it in with one long brutal push.  It wasn’t as comfortable as he preferred to make it but still pushed back against it, imagining that he had surrendered his body to the alpha’s will.  Fast thrusts of the thick shaft had him coming fast, even before he’d started to work the knot in. He angled the dildo and stroked his prostate with it until he was coming weakly again, too spent to have the motivation to let the dildo knot him.  He wasn’t actually in heat after all, sometimes that just seemed like too much work. 

He pulled the toy out and then starfished onto his back with his limbs spread wide and then flushed with embarrassment over what he had just done.  He’d just gotten himself off to the thought of a wild fucking him. A wild. That was probably akin to bestiality according to society’s view of the islanders.  And now he’d have to go back to work while his cheeks burned and stomach swooped every time he was reminded of what he’d just done. He’d never be able to observe Harry again, even from a distance.  

The next day at work, Louis tried his best to pretend that the whole fantasy session had never happened.  He hooked his hearing protection headphones around his neck, secured his cap over his head and grabbed the weed eater to give some attention to the south side fence line that never seemed to start growing.  He swore that by the time he had finished, the place he had started had already grown up a foot. It was a never ending battle. 

Whistling his way along, he nodded a greeting to a few other staff members that were responsible for tasks similar to his– it took a whole team to keep such a large and complex enclosure in acceptable condition– and made his way over to his starting point.  He had just balanced the weed eater against the fence so he could position his headphones when he noticed that his favourite beta being crowded into the corner by none other than Harry. She looked flighty and nervous, eyes darting around while her back bumped into the fence.  

Immediately feeling protective over her, especially after seeing –and then fantasizing about– how intense Harry could be.  Since she wasn’t omega, Louis could only wonder what Harry’s business was with her but if he could do anything to stop him, he would.  

Snatching up a sturdy stick he found along the path, Louis jogged to the corner of the enclosure and wiggled his hand through one of the holes after threading the stick through first.  

“Hey!  Hey over here!” Louis shouted and hoped it would distract Harry long enough for the girl to get away.  

That didn’t seem to phase either of them much but Louis didn’t have another solid plan.  He technically wasn’t supposed to interfere or interact with any of them unless he was in charge of feeding them or if he was asked to help with something under the direct supervision of a researcher.  

“HEY!” Louis shouted again, this time as loud as he could, and chucked the stick towards them as hard as he could with limited mobility.  

The stick hit Harry’s thigh with no more momentum than a light tap but it served to snap his attention towards Louis.  The beta girl took the chance to scramble off and before he could breathe a sigh of relief or retract his hand, Harry was on him.  

Louis couldn’t even process how Harry had moved that quickly but his grip on Louis’ hand was tight and uncomfortable and the wire of the fence was painfully pinching the meat of his arm between it and his own bone as it pressed into his skin at such an angle and, in a panic, he realized his lungs weren’t working.  Fear had every hair follicle on his body prickling and his lungs cramped and clenched with the shallow gasps that were making his heart race even faster. 

He stared with saucer-wide eyes at the wild so close up for the very first time, every minute twitch of the alpha’s face seeming exaggerated like Louis was looking at them through a high definition magnifying glass.  The flair of his nostrils with each breath, the tight clench of the muscles along his jaw and purse of his lips, the flitting of his light coloured eyes as they seemed to analyze Louis’ face, the unsubtle dilating of his dark pupils.  

His own eyes seemed to grow impossibly wider as the alpha slowly began to rise, growing in size like a dramatically slow motion scene in a movie with a sea monster rising out of the water to show their full and intimidating mass that eventually overshadowed the large ship looking to capture it.  Louis could do nothing but watch with absolute terror as the alpha rose to stand at his full height, towering over Louis like an eclipse and leaving him in a shadow from the morning sun. Louis didn’t even know the wilds were capable of standing completely upright, he’d never seen it, and to witness it for the first time while being held in place by the death grip of the same wild that had at least a foot on him had his shaking knees threatening to give out on him and his bladder threatening to release.  

Louis hadn’t blinked once and could feel the surface of his eyeballs drying out like the heart of the desert.  The alpha had done nothing but stare down at the omega, the set of his expression unreadable but bordering on angry.  Louis was sure his arm was about to be ripped off and his thoughts were running so quickly that he was already anticipating the misery and struggle of learning to live his life without his dominant hand.  He never should have interfered. The beta girl had no ties to him, probably didn’t even appreciate his efforts and would just be in the same position later anyway– if they didn’t put Harry down after this.  Or put him in isolation. They wouldn’t euthanize a human, would they? Would they charge him with assault and prosecute him just like anyone else?

He was startled from his racing thoughts by a puff of warm air against his knuckles.  The sandpaper feel of his dry eyes as he blinked made his vision blur for a moment before he was able to focus on the alpha scenting his skin in heavy breaths.  The air was hot and moist where his hand had grown clammy and the tips of his own fingers were deep red where the vice like grip was restricting circulation. They pulsed in time to his thudding heart that was working so hard he thought that it just might give out on him.  

Harry huffed out a noise and Louis swore he heard the word “mine” but quickly brushed it off as his own adrenaline boosted brain working overtime.  There were times when he’d seen small groups or pairs of the wilds together that would never have made him look twice at them– if they hadn’t been naked or in a cage anyway.  Like a couple sitting out in the park on a nice spring day, he’d seen them interact just like anyone else would. He’d even heard things that sounded almost like english words if he squinted.  

But there was no way that this wild feral alpha had just claimed Louis after just snuffling over Louis’ hand.  

Louis let out his own noise in the sound of a squeak which prompted Harry to press his face against the diamond shaped holes created by the sturdy wire.  Their faces were just inches apart now, stale breath from a mouth with teeth that had never been brushed rushing towards him in a slow rhythm. It wasn’t as unpleasant as he had braced himself for and he lost a moment thinking that maybe the germs and bacteria that caused bad breath were ones that Harry had never been exposed to on the island.  Isolated in the wild, maybe his unbrushed mouth was cleaner than Louis’ ass. 

That thought spiraled quickly and his eyes nearly crossed as they looked to see just the bottom ridges of two white bunny teeth behind Harry’s parted lips.  The pain in his wrist and hand had faded but also felt like dead weight in Harry’s grip like it had fallen asleep. 

A loud buzzer alarm sounded and Harry released Louis’ hand and dropped to a crouch at high alert.  The wild hesitated for only a moment before galloping off towards one of the nests. Louis still didn’t know how they were able to run in that position without looking like some form of weird crab.  In the privacy of his apartment, Louis had attempted to try it too many times to admit and each time had either fallen flat on his face, bum or ended up crab waddling until he was in hysterics on the floor.  It was a mystery that he let distract himself for a moment while he withdrew his numb hand from the fence that had started to tingle with painful pinpricks. 

He wasn’t sure what had just happened.  

Even though he was still shaking, the residual fear no longer felt valid.  At some point in the exchange, Louis somehow knew that Harry’s goal wasn’t to hurt him.  Or maybe it was just a coping mechanism to tell himself that now that he had come out of the experience unscathed.  

In a daze, he held his hand delicately against his chest and stared down at the grass without focus.  He waved everyone off that had rushed to check on him, assuring them he was fine with the best acting skills he could muster.  He forced himself into autopilot for the rest of the day, going through the motions of all his assigned tasks and not allowing his mind to wander nor his eyes lift even once towards the enclosure.  

Eventually, Louis had separated himself enough from the incidences with Harry to start feeling like himself again.  One day several weeks later he realized he had moved past his internal shame about fucking himself to the fantasy of Harry bringing out the wild in his omega and hadn’t thought about the exchange at the fence either.  His chest felt lighter letting go and he started to let himself watch the wilds again as he always had. 

The truth was that he missed them.  It was like his own soap opera in some ways.  He’d learned the behaviours of most of them just by being close enough to see yet far enough to never interfere.  He had missed watching one of the mated couples work together to gather food, usually migrating towards the raspberry bushes once the sun was in a position to leave it mostly shaded by one of the larger trees.  He’d missed the few younger ones playing their own made up games in the open grassy areas, chasing each other around until one of them got hurt and stomped off in a huff. 

They were all so similar to people that he knew or had seen in his real life, in the real world, that it was hard to think about them being caged up.  But he knew that even if they displayed some of the same behaviours, the ones that were different were enough to make them dangerous. It seemed difficult for them to keep their emotions in check, no filter for rational thought when it came to aggression or lust– when it came to any emotion anything really.  Their social cues were off, scratching and picking and playing with parts of their body that would never be acceptable in public. 

They gave in to all of their mating ritual urges without thought.  With no suppressants or birth control, they rode through their cycles whenever they happened without a second thought.  There had already been several babies born within the habitat since they’d arrived and Louis wondered if they would be considered citizens and if they would be taken to be brought up by foster families with a more civilized foundation.  Louis wasn’t privy to the research information past the few offhand facts that had been revealed to him. 

The wilds gave chase and played all the mating games that Louis had always been taught to suppress.  More than once Louis had been caught off guard by a playful mated pair suddenly having sex in front of him like the wildest, most primal porn he had ever witnessed.  Of course he watched, how could he not? And, aside from making him hard in his khakis, it always made him wonder if erasing the taboo of mating instincts would make dating easier or more difficult, if their bodies would lead them to an ideal mate or seal them together with someone horrible and condemn them to a miserable life.  

Louis was distracted pondering these deep life thoughts one afternoon while he was up on the catwalks trimming down a wild grape vine that had grown up one of the support beams and started to take over the corner of the walkway at the point where the two sections met over the middle of the enclosure.  He’d hacked away all the individual vines that had grown up through the slats and was leaning out to cut through the main vine that had been the initial cause of the outbreak. 

Sitting with his legs dangling over the edge as he usually did, he gripped onto the lower railing with one hand and ducked beneath it so he could reach out just a bit further.  With the clippers giving him a few more inches off the length of his arm, he stretched and almost had the vine between the blades when his fingers lost grip and the clippers fell from his fingers in a spiral towards the ground.  

On reflex, he reached to somehow pluck them from midair and instead, shifted his hips just enough to lose his balance where he had already been perched precariously.  He struggled to keep his grip on the railing but his sweaty fingers were already sliding against the smooth metal. His free hand desperately attempted to grasp on to anything that would pull him to safety or, at the very least, secure his balance.  The frantic movement of his arm caused him to lose his grip and he fell backwards in suspended time while he focused on the railing that was supposed to keep him safe. He could have been falling through a vortex for how long it felt that he fell through the air but time was quick to catch up.  

The thud of him hitting the ground was loud in his ears and he heard it first before the delayed surge of pain throughout his body.  The air was knocked from his lungs and he sputtered and gasped and wheezed for breath, clawing at his throat as if he were being choked.  He writhed away from the feeling that there was no escape from and ended up with a faceful of grass as he settled on his stomach. Eventually he was able to breath again though each intake of air burned deep in his chest.  He took a moment to do an inventory of his body parts and, after a moment, decided that nothing had been broken. He didn’t appear to be bleeding and there were no bones sticking out at awkward angles. There was an overall ache from the jarring landing, but he figured he would be fine.  

Louis finally lifted his head to look around and it only took an instant to realize exactly where he had fallen.  The grassy patch was in the middle of the habitat and the danger settled down on hard like the stomp of an elephant.  He had to move, and quick, if there was any chance of him getting out unscathed. He wasn’t even sure if anyone was aware that he had fallen yet to have any of the gates prepped or manned to let him out.  Banging on the gates to get someone’s attention would also alert the wilds to his presence and by then it would be too late. 

He barely had a knee under himself to launch his body into a run when a solid mass was on top of him, weighing him down holding him in place.  He sobbed out in panic and thrashed frantically to get away. It wasn’t much use against the strength that was not only holding him in place but pushing between his shoulder blades to pin him to the ground.  He was barely even able to move his arms with the point of pressure forcing his shoulder blades to angle together and leaving him helpless. 

Sobs ripped through him as the overheated body draped over him, calves pressing against the backs of his knees so he couldn’t even kick himself out of the grip.  The fabric of his shirt ripped under jagged nails and sheer force, the air touching the skin of his exposed side cold in contrast to the furnace weighing him down.  He could smell that it was Harry without even open his eyes that were shut so tight they had already started to ache. 

The wild seemed to shred his shirt off in sections like an overwrapped Christmas present, almost as if he didn’t realize there was an easier way to get them free.  Having lived his whole life naked, it dawned on Louis that Harry probably didn’t know how clothes worked. To the alpha, it was just an extra barrier, an obstacle to overcome before he found the bare skin he was looking for. 

Louis was shaking with fear by the time his back was exposed and Harry was rubbing against every part of it like an insistent and overgrown cat.  It was confusing until Harry’s scent bloomed around them and then Louis knew that he was being marked. It was normally just something that alphas did during heats and ruts, but without social norms, Harry’s instinct was unbridled and set out to make his intentions clear to any other alpha that might try to pull something.  

The inner omega that Louis had been taught not to listen to whined from the depths of his brain, but it was a whisper when compared to everything else going on in Louis’ head.  Harry’s sharp claws caught his skin more than once and each small scrape was stinging with the salty sweat that was being rubbed into them by Harry’s possessive motions. He wasn’t sure whose sweat it was, Harry feeling damp from the exertion of what he was doing and Louis’ sweat from panicking fear.

It had taken more effort, but Harry eventually had most of Louis’ khaki work shorts torn away.  The thick waistband was still secured around his middle– just like the collar of his shirt– and the back of his thighs and his cheeks were now exposed for Harry to rub himself against.  Another round of terrified sobs overtook Louis when he felt the alpha’s heavy cock already hard against him. Pressed up against the alpha’s stomach between them, the girth of it settled in the crease of Louis’ cheeks and Harry began to hump in slow movements that made the length part his cheeks to nestle closer.  

His body betrayed him by slicking up and soon the slide was a lot more comfortable than sticky skin on sticky skin.  Louis didn’t want it to happen this way, he didn’t want to be taken out in the open in the middle of a zoo-like enclosure where all the people he worked with would be watching if they weren’t already.  He was already naked for everyone to see and the embarrassment burned deeply. 

It was bad enough that he had fantasized about this very scenario.  The shame of thinking of a wild in that way had felt wrong on so many levels.  Now he would forever be the guy who fucked a wild. It would be all over the papers, all over the gossip rags.  They’d rope him in with the bestiality perverts, feature him on trashy talk shows with the rest of the weirdos. ‘Let’s meet the man who mated with a wild!’  He could already see it. 

No, he didn’t want it like this.  

Harry was a wild animal void of the parts of his brain responsible for reason and decision making.  He was on autopilot to mate and procreate. Once Louis freed himself, Harry would just move on to the next.  

In a last ditch effort, Louis mustered up his strength, took a deep steadying breath and bucked back as hard as he could.  It caught the alpha off guard but only enough to throw off his rhythm and cause a rumbling growl to vibrate through his chest.  Louis continued his attempts to thrash himself free while Harry dropped his weight down and nosed up the back of Louis neck. 

The bite was sudden and unexpected, not hard enough to break the skin but enough to make Louis’ whole body go limp with submission.  His omega whined and, this time, it audibly made its way out. His fingers and toes curled as he fought against the drop and it felt similar to fighting against sleep in those last moments before your body took over.  It didn’t feel unpleasant but Louis knew that if he gave in, that would be it. Teeth gripped into the meat of his shoulder more firmly until Louis let himself go still. The low growl was still resonating from the alpha and, to Louis’ omega, it sounded more like a purr.  

Harry started to gather Louis up into his arms, releasing his shoulder but not the sound that seemed a continuous hum in the background.  Louis, even without his omega, had to admit that it was soothing. 

It felt like another chance to break free, but Harry’s arms were so surprisingly strong that Louis would be certain he spent all his time pumping iron if it weren’t for the fact that he was a wild.  He wondered if they were all so freakishly strong or if Harry did some other type of strength training when Louis wasn’t around. Muscle mass was directly related to testosterone and other alpha hormones and, if the size of Harry’s hormone factory was anything to go by, Harry was well supplied.  

Again Louis wondered how the wilds were able to move in a crouch so gracefully, actually stumped on the logistics of it when Harry gathered Louis tightly to his chest and easily pulled him off into depths of the tree covered area without stumbling or crab walking his way over.  Even with a raging boner sticking out between his thighs and Louis in tow, it was a smooth and natural ride, even with the times he stopped to growl a menacing warning to the few alphas that dared to venture too close. Louis’ omega preened. 

Louis had never taken the time to learn about things beyond what he saw the wilds doing in the open area so he was surprised to see the little area that seemed to a kind of nest that Harry had claimed for himself.  It was just big enough for him to sleep on but well maintained so Louis didn’t feel grossed out when Harry pushed him back down into the position he’d been in out on the open grass. 

The growls and grunts of impatient frustration while Harry tried to rip off the last bits of Louis’ clothes had Louis sliding his shaking hands down to unbutton and unzip what was left of his shorts so they could be slid off his body and pulled the collar and sleeves left from his polo off as well.  During the journey across the yard, Louis’ survival mode had shifted from breaking free to making everything go as smooth as possible. It was going to happen, he wouldn’t be able to stop it. If he could at least keep Harry content, it made his odds of coming out of everything in one piece more plausible.  A frustrated wild didn’t feel like a safe wild and Louis already didn’t feel safe. 

Harry began to scent mark him all over again now that the last of the fabric was gone and Louis just laid still and tried to steady his shaking breaths.  Harry was sucking on the mating spot on his shoulder and Louis hated his body for responding to it. Slick was building at his hole and his cock was hard against the soft grass of the nest.  He was also fighting the urge to tilt his hips up into the mating position, even harder when Harry’s thighs were rubbing against his hips, weight shifting back and forth to urge Louis’ hips up.  

That was another thing that had been lost to casual sex yet Louis’ body knew exactly what to do.  Most couples mated front facing, the focus on love and mental connection stressed more than the physical ones more often than not.  

The strength of Harry’s thighs and his wordless urging eventually worked Louis’ hips up into the mating position and Louis squeezed his eyes shut against the tears ready to flood out of his eyes.  Raped, mated, bred, bonded. Louis didn’t know which one to settle on but all of them were against his will. 

The hot tip of the alpha’s cock poked against the back of his thigh and Louis huffed out a bitter laugh flashing back to that night he foolishly fantasized about the same thing down to the dirty details.  

Harry started to aggressively scent him behind his ear just above the mating spot, huffing out hard breaths and breathing him in like a drug.  Louis couldn’t deny that the alpha at least smelled appealing, memories of the strength of it and the image of what he had done on the day Harry had shown off for him making slick ooze out of his hole with a pitiful whimper.  

The penetration was a sudden shock that rocked his body, tensed his muscles, punched a sob mixed with a moan from his chest.  

It was just as Louis had expected it to be.  With one hard thrust, Harry had sheathed himself balls deep, barely pausing to moan through the feeling before his hips started a jackhammering pace that slid them both across the nest until the alpha anchored them in place.  It felt rough and impersonal, the humid air against his neck reminding him of the time he’d gone home with a some drunken asshole only to sober up halfway through feeling disgusting and wanting nothing more than to squirm away from the touch.  

Louis was scared, unable to relax his body even in places that he needed to for his own sake.  But even through all of his anxiety, Louis could tell that Harry was lost to it, lost to  _ him _ in the most unquestionable way.  It was the same heady rush he had got off to thinking of giving in to primal urges and letting an alpha take him purely on instinct.  His omega was thriving, understanding and grasping onto each of Harry’s grunts and noises in a language they were both born fluent in.  

Eventually, his omega pushed its way through his crowded mind to the front and demanded to be heard.  His hips started to push back into the feeling until their bodies found a rhythm that had both of them moaning out.  Even with the vast differences in their culture and mentality, Louis realized he had never felt so deeply connected to someone while lost in the moment.  He would surely feel differently once it was over, but knew he would always feel that way when he let himself remember how it felt. 

Louis was ripped out of his zen by a sharp pain, crying out as Harry’s canines clamped down and then popped through his skin.  There was a rush of pleasure, warmth and then emotion when he felt Harry’s knot expand to lock them together, a swirl of feelings passing through them in a circle where they were connected in both spots.  Louis could actually feel the rush of passion flood his body from Harry’s mind, quivering from the intensity that caused him to come hard without ever being touched. 

Harry had mated them, bonded them, broke through the skin and sealed them together for life.  

He’d read about the emotional exchange of soul bonds, of mating bonds, and it was overwhelming to feel how human and familiar Harry’s where as they pulsed through his body in waves.  The alpha’s body was shaking above him and Louis wondered if he was feeling the same feeding back from him. 

His knees were aching by the time Harry released the hold his teeth had kept on Louis’ shoulder and shifted them to spoon on their sides.  It felt like such an ordinary move, not one he would have expected from a wild. The gentle kisses against their mating bite felt too domestic to belong in a grass nest under the cover of trees as well.  

As they waited out the tie, Louis began to wonder how long it had been.  What felt like hours had probably only been a handful of minutes. Had they even noticed what had happened yet?

That was all it took for Louis to start replaying the chain of events in his mind.  The fall he could still feel in his bones, the weight of Harry’s body pinning him in place, the strength that had forced him into the position he was in.  

Louis couldn’t believe what his life had become.  Raped by a wild, forceably bonded by a wild. The anger was swelling to replace the dimming of Harry’s emotions as the alpha started to drift off to sleep.  It would take years of therapy and treatment to fight the bond that was still freshly throbbing near his neck. It might even take the rest of his life. 

And where had everyone been during all of this?? 

It had only been once or twice, but Louis had seen handlers use tasers in extreme situations.  Anyone could have tasered the alpha to give Louis enough time to break free and make a run for it.  Louis would definitely be filing for workers comp to cover his expenses. He would sue. 

He shifted his hips every few minutes just to see if he would be able to pull himself free.  Each time it only drew a deep moan from the alpha and cause his arms to tighten around Louis’ middle.  It hadn’t been that long ago that Louis had marveled at the size of Harry’s knot on display, salivated over it actually.  The reality of it had him feeling too full to breathe. Having never taken an actual knot before, he had no way of knowing if it would always feel overwhelming, only did because it was his first time, or because he wasn’t in heat.  

Louis caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and lifted his head to see a person that was definitely not a wild peeking through the brush.  It was humiliating to be found not only naked with but still tied to the wild that had raped him. His eyes burned with tears while he tugged against the knot again and desperately wished that it would go down enough to release him.  

It was probably an hour– though it felt like five– before he was finally able to pull himself free.  Harry’s knot popped out with a disgusting rush of come that ran down his thighs in rivulets while he scampered away from the nest and out into the open.  

He was met by an embarrassing number of people but couldn’t dwell on it when he was immediately wrapped up in a blanket and ushered around the other vehicles to the ambulance they had backed into the enclosure.  It gave him at least the illusion of privacy to collect himself before facing his coworkers and whoever else had shown up to witness his humiliation. 

His ass was sore from the knot, his shoulder was sore from the bite, his body was sore from the fall and about everything else that Harry had done to him.  All he wanted was his own bed. And maybe a shower. 

“Just– just give me a minute,” he pulled the blanket tighter around his body and recoiled when one of the paramedics started to examine him.  He didn’t want anyone to know what had happened, to see the bite that had gone through so many layers of flesh that it could never be fully erased.  People would know, he’d never be able to keep it hidden. Even if they didn’t know the full truth, it would always be obvious that he was struggling to break a bond, his scent growing more bitter as time moved forward. 

He had nearly collected himself enough to allow them to complete their exam when the most aggressive sound Louis had ever heard startled everyone in his sight.  He would have argued that there was no chance the sound had been made by a human if his whole body hadn’t shuddered in response to it. There was absolutely no question in Louis’ mind about where the sound had originated and he surged towards the commotion just beyond the vehicles.  

Hands reached out and attempted to hold him back but he was quick and nimble and ducked away from each.  He could already feel Harry’s anguish through their bond, the experience too new to be able to decipher where Harry’s emotions stopped and his own began.  So he rounded the corner of the ambulance as a buzzing ball of anxiety and wilted to his knees as soon as his eyes landed on the scene in front of him. 

“STOP YOU’RE HURTING HIM!” Louis’ voice was pitchy and hysterical, tears already spilling down his cheeks.  

It had taken four alphas to wrestle Harry to the ground and they were still fighting against his strength and surge of survival adrenaline that had no doubt been triggered as a response to being captured all over again.  The unmasked panic on Harry’s face and in his actions hit Louis even harder than the actual emotions he was living through that were being fed to him through their bond. 

“STOP!!” Louis’ voice was barely working so he scrambled forward just as they finished securing the restraints holding Harry’s hands behind his back.  Two of the others were attempting to shackle the alpha’s feet together when Louis came close enough to see the defensive wounds and splotches of red blooming over Harry’s skin where they had used force.  

The omega was plucked out of the air like he weighed nothing just before he was able to touch, spun around carried further away while he kicked and screamed and demanded to see his alpha.  It didn’t take as many to subdue him as it had for Harry, but he still put up a good fight. They injected him with a sedative even though it took them longer than necessary to find a vein while Louis was squirming around in protest.  It worked almost instantly and the fight wilted from his body like a dying flower. 

“You can’t… They’re hurting him… Scared…” Louis’ thoughts had been reduced to fragments though he knew they all made sense somehow.  

His shoulder burned as they poured liquid onto the wound.  The feeling traveled through his nerves to the tips of his fingers, to the tips of his toes, hot like fire zipping through every part of him.  

“Make sure to get that acid wash deep.  It’s fresh so we might be able to burn out any lingering saliva that hasn’t sealed.”  

Louis’ omega whined in protest but there was nothing he could do when he could barely even keep his eyes open.  Besides, that had been what he had wanted before Harry’s mental intrusion had muddied his thoughts. He was still close too, Louis could feel it though it was now at a more muted level.  His body was on fire and Louis wondered if Harry could feel the stress it was putting on him, could feel his omega throwing a tantrum in response. 

“If that’s stopped bubbling then it should be clear.  We’ll throw a couple stitches in it now to seal it up and hope that artificially closing it will weaken the bond.  I feel sorry for the guy, it’s like bonding with a grizzly bear. You’ll always want it but it’ll always be too dangerous to have it.”  

Those last words Louis heard before falling asleep had been the catalyst of his drug induced nightmare.  

Louis felt like he was thrashing himself awake when his eyes cracked open to find that his body was still.  The beeping monitor and the heavy blankets bearing down on his legs were enough to tell him that he wasn’t at home but a hazy confusion was surrounding him.  Apart from the dull ache in his body, he felt fine and he lifted his head to look survey the room. There was a single IV bag hanging above them that was attached to a tube taped to his wrist and a clip over his pointer finger but nothing looked too intense.  

It was the dull throb of his behind when he shifted that stirred the memories of what had landed him in a hospital bed and he closed his eyes to the images that pounded his brain.  

They released him from observation several hours later and, not wanting to expose the situation to anyone, caught an Uber back to his apartment in a state of shock.  

It didn’t feel the same to be home after he’d stepped inside.  He was restless and antsy and the small studio made him feel claustrophobic.  

He found himself on his way to the habitat before he comprehended making the decision and tried to ignore the prying eyes that stared at him on his way to the office.  

Out of the whole experience, it was the last image he had of Harry being forcibly being restrained that bothered him the most.  Removed from the adrenaline and panic of the situation, Louis worried about the wild’s safety even after being the victim of his aggression.  

He’d watched Harry for months, had seen him with the others, had seen the way he kept to himself.  Looking back on it, Harry hadn’t intentionally hurt him and Louis genuinely believed that Harry would never be unnecessarily violent without being provoked.  He wouldn’t be able move forward without seeing for himself that Harry was okay. He figured he’d feel the same if he worked at a normal zoo and had been attacked in the same situation by a lion.  He wouldn’t want the lion put down or treated poorly for their instincts. 

Louis waltzed into the office and demanded to see Harry.  It had taken a lot of convincing but even asking was just a formality once they let slip that Harry was still on property.  Louis knew the grounds backwards and forwards and knew the only place they had to keep him was in the quarantine cells in the medical building.  He still allowed himself to be escorted and was glad to have a ride rather than walking to the back of the property. The sedatives had left him exhausted and groggy and walking any distance seemed daunting in his state.  

Somehow, he was able to convince his escorts to stay outside.  They compromised by cracking the door open and Louis assured them that he could call out if anything should happen.  His nerves were making his stomach flip and his heart race and he didn’t think he would be able face the wild with an audience.  Harry was safely caged, anyway. Louis wasn’t worried about his physical safety. 

Each footstep echoed against the concrete in the long hallway, eerily silent with the rest of the cells vacant.  He timidly peeked into each one and let out a small breath of relief each time he found one empty.

About halfway down the hallway, Louis could hear the sound of soft murmurs and glanced behind himself to make sure no one had followed him.  The closer he came to the voice, the easier it was to make out the mumbles that sounded similar to the way a child would sound out words while learning to read or correcting their pronounciation.  It was whispered and unclear and abruptly cut off just before Louis reached the last cell. 

It took a moment to steel himself before taking the last step to stand directly in front of the cell, bars crossing over the open space to keep them separated.  

Harry was crouched in the back corner, back to Louis but the tense line made it clear the wild knew that he was there.  Louis had been able to scent him from the moment he’d opened the door so he could only imagine it had been the same. It was only Harry in the cell with no other sources for the voice he had heart.  He’d been mumbling to himself. 

“Hi.”  Louis’ voice cracked and he rolled his eyes at himself.  What was the point in greeting someone who wouldn’t understand it anyway.  

Harry slowly turned to look over his shoulder, apprehension written all over his face, but he didn’t shrink away.  Instead, the alpha once again rose to his feet and took tentative steps across the small space until he was able to grip the vertical bars and rest his forehead against one of the horizontal ones.  It made Louis nervous. Harry seemed far too human on his feet as he peered curiously at Louis like anyone else in a prison cell. Louis wondered if they often stood upright or if it was a learned behaviour from from being transplanted into their world.  

“Hi.”  It sounded more like a grunt but Louis could hear the effort it had taken to attempt to mimic the sound.  Louis was equally unnerved and impressed. 

“I don’t like what you did,” Louis blurted out into the tense air between them.  

There hadn’t been any expectations when he’d decided he needed to see that Harry was okay with his own eyes.  There had been no rehearsing what he planned to say to the alpha, no thoughts about what he might feel. He’d just powered into it and found himself face to face with his mate that was not only a complete stranger to him, but also from a completely different world.  

Even so, Louis could recognize the concern that creased lines into the alpha’s forehead and the anguish radiating from his eyes.  Their emotional exchange was dim, nothing like it had been at first, but Louis wasn’t sure how much of that was normal and how much had been stripped by the paramedic’s procedure.  It didn’t matter, Louis could handle it on such a low level. 

“Hurt.”  The H was drawn out like he was unsure of himself and seemed to whisper it to himself several times after as if making sure he had said it right.  

To say Louis was shocked was putting it lightly, gaping at the wild like he’d suddenly grown two heads.  That wasn’t just repeating sounds the way Louis had brushed it off before. 

“Do you know English?” Louis asked but pursed lips and an intense gaze was all that he received in response.  

“Are  _ you  _ hurt?” Louis asked instead and froze when the alpha took a small step backwards so he could look down at his own body.  One hand released his grip on the bar to poke at a few spots but didn’t directly answer. 

There were deep bruises and scratches visible over Harry’s body but nothing that looked too concerning.  The raw rings around Harry’s wrists seemed to be the worst of it, circles rubbed deep into the skin from struggling against the restraints.  The matching marks around his ankles didn’t seem to be quite as bad. There was dried blood smeared and crusted in a few places though the source wounds seemed to be no worse than a bad paper cut.  His knees were grass stained and dirty and Louis was sure they had just thrown him in without even tending to his injuries. 

It upset Louis even more to see the wilds being treated like animals when it was becoming more obvious that there wasn’t all that much different about them at all.  Harry clearly understood at least some English– whether he had picked it up from the researchers or known simple words before he was captured– and showed signs of being able to communicate.  The wilds weren’t zoo animals to be locked up and studied. It wasn’t right that their freedom had been stripped from them, that they had been taken from their families and their culture. It wasn’t even Harry’s fault that that he’d claimed Louis the way he did.  To Harry, there had been nothing wrong with that. Instincts were encouraged where he was from and it pulled at Louis’ soul. 

There would be a lot of therapy ahead for Louis to work through what had happened, he already knew that, but Harry wasn’t the enemy.  

He stepped forward and tentatively reached a hand out to cover Harry’s where he gripped the bar.  Even if Louis decided to sever their bond, he still knew he would do anything to help him. 

 

\---Epilogue---

 

Louis punched his code into the keypad next to the fence and then muttered to himself as he kicked the pole.  The walk-in gate at that entrance always stuck no matter how many times he had reported it to maintenance. It finally swung open and he nodded in approval, propping it open with the little latch.  

He turned around and found Harry crouched low to the ground a safe distance away.  Louis shook his head and smiled to himself, closing the space between them with just a few paces.  

“Come on, you know you can’t do that.  Not if you want to go out, anyway.” 

Louis stretched out a hand that Harry took, using it for courage rather than leverage to pull himself up.  Harry was fully capable of pushing himself to his feet, walking around at his full height more often than not when anyone was around to see it.  Close to the ground was still Harry’s comfort zone though and today was a big day. 

Louis took a moment to fuss over Harry’s clothes, straightening his patterned button up and brushing some dust from the thigh of his dark skinny jeans.  His long curly hair was always kept neat now, pushed back off his face and tumbling over his shoulders in soft ringlets that Louis always found himself playing with.  It was how he had named Harry, after all, the name Harry himself had adopted once he was able to communicate enough to choose. He’d left his real name on the island, he’d told Louis, he wanted to be Louis’ Harry.    

Louis tugged gently at Harry’s hand and was met with hesitant resistance.  

“Come on!  If you don’t stall we’ll have time to see my apartment and, you know,” Louis wiggled his eyebrows and Harry’s face brightened at the suggestion.  

It was the first day that Louis had been granted permission to take Harry off property, something both of them had been looking forward to for months.  By that point, Harry had seen plenty of movies and been shown plenty of pictures but Louis could only imagine how anxious Harry truly felt. A tremor of it buzzed along the edge of his mind but he only picked up things on a small scale anymore.  Louis was content only receiving a fraction of the intensity, especially as he watched the ups and downs of Harry’s struggles. 

Harry had quite a temper when he was frustrated and they had all found out the hard way.  He’d put several holes in walls when he wasn’t able to remember or pronounce words he had been struggling with and they all knew to tread lightly if it was a bad day.  Harry always seemed to feel guilty after but Louis was still glad he wasn’t transferred the full scale of Harry’s intensity on a daily basis. It did help on the days when Louis was the one working with him.  It helped him steer the lessons or activities when he could sense Harry was overwhelmed. 

Louis couldn’t even blame him.  It would be a lot for anyone. 

Harry was still very quiet most of the time though his vocabulary continued to grow.  He’d told Louis that sometimes the words didn’t feel right and he didn’t want to risk saying the wrong ones.  But he could express himself when he needed to. 

The first goal for their outing had been one they’d been working towards for a while and even Harry was excited for it.  For the first time since Harry had arrived, he would step foot onto the ground outside of the property and walk with Louis to the sandwich shop just down the street.  Harry would place his own order and interact with the waitress and, if they were up for it, grab ice cream for dessert and take Harry’s first real car ride to Louis’ apartment for the afternoon.  

They still had to be back by 5, but even Louis agreed that baby steps were the best strategy.  

The street wasn’t too busy but Louis could still see Harry’s alpha subtly posturing every time another alpha passed by them on the sidewalk.  Louis squeezed his hand in assurance, ready to speak up if it started to get out of hand. It was something they were working on and one reason why Harry hadn’t been allowed to leave the enclosed property that the habitat was on before.  It was dangerous without Harry’s instincts in check, without knowing how to control his alpha. He’d come of age being encouraged to trust and react to his hindbrain over reason and it was behaviour that wasn’t easily rewired. 

Louis had grown to learn and respect Harry’s actions, even finding some of them extremely attractive, but on the outside, those same things would get him arrested.  

“Don’t like these,” Harry leaned to whisper in Louis’ ear, scratching and palming at his crotch while he walked funny for a minute. 

“Hey, stop that,” Louis slapped his hand away from between his legs but laughed, “You can’t do that in public.  Plus, you look hot as fuck in those jeans.” 

“Scratchy,” Harry whined, wiggling around a little while they paused at a crosswalk for the signal to change.

“You remembered to put on underpants first, right?”

“Oh.” 

Louis threw his head back and cackled, squeezing Harry’s hand as he wiped tears away from the corners of his eyes with the other.  Leave it to Harry to muck up his first day in the real world with something so ridiculous. 

“Make it through lunch and then I’ll let you borrow some of mine for the rest of the day.”    

They made it through lunch and then decided to leave ice cream for later to give Harry a break from the anxiety that had been building up in the new surroundings.  Everything had gone well, Harry only tripping up a few words here and there but no more than even Louis would himself on an off day. 

Louis could also tell that his alpha was on high alert as well, the close proximity of so many strange alphas causing Harry to tense up more than once.  It didn’t seem that anyone else had noticed but Louis thought it would be a good idea to clear the air anyway. 

That and he was more than ready to get Harry alone.   

It wasn’t that they hadn’t had sex since Harry had overpowered and claimed him because they had.  It had taken a long time before Louis had even wanted it and then once they had, there was always some level of awkwardness knowing his coworkers either knew what they were doing when Louis had to announce that they were not to be disturbed or ran the risk that anyone might walk in on them in the act.  It wasn’t exactly the place for privacy. 

Louis had been looking forward to getting Harry truly alone since the day he’d finally decided that he wanted to stay bonded with him.  The rest of the day had started to fade but Louis would never forget the first time Harry had smiled at him. Always so serious and never showing more than a quirk of is lips, that day Harry had lit up like the sun.  Dimples popped, eyes sparkled, and Louis was gone. They had been outside practicing words and enjoying the day. Harry had been in his usual state of undress, crouched down as he picked little violets into a small bouquet in his fingers.  Louis had started to doze off, listening to Harry mumble to himself in the way that he often did now in Louis’ presence. It let Louis knew that he was still nearby and hadn’t wandered off. 

“FLOWER!” Harry had nearly shouted and Louis lifted his head to look over at the bouquet held out in front of him and the happiest expression Louis had ever seen in his life.  He’d remembered it on his own, from the simple English he’d learned back on the island, and was so proud of himself that Louis couldn’t help but grin back and give a nod of confirmation.  

It was so pure and so happy and it was then that Louis made the decision to give Harry a chance.  Since then, they’d been making it work. 

But Louis was an omega who had been forced to spend his heats alone away from his mate with only quickies and uncomfortable cots to satisfy his needs in the meantime and if it didn’t happen soon, Louis would be the one being arrested for public indecency.  

Harry was distracted.  He’d looked around Louis small studio apartment and then started to pick up every single item he could to inspect it before putting them down and moving on to the next.  Louis didn’t want to stifle his curiosity but at the same time, he needed his alpha. 

“Okay, yeah, you’ve seen a kitchen before,” Louis gently gripped Harry’s forearms and turned him away from the stove and shuffled him over towards the bed.  

“Lou?” Harry asked in the tone he always did when he wasn’t quite sure what was happening.  Usually it was during a movie or tv show when he didn’t understand the context or when he couldn’t quite follow a conversation.  More frequently he did it when he wasn’t sure what an object was or was for. 

Harry knew this though.  

“Remember what I said?” Louis turned and started to unbutton Harry’s shirt, sliding his fingertips over washboard abs that Louis still wasn’t quite sure how he maintained.  

“Underpants?” Harry looked hopeful when Louis started to unbutton his jeans.  

He paused with his fingertips still hooked in Harry’s waistband and looked up at him ready to sass before he saw a quirk of Harry’s smirk he hadn’t been able to hold back.  

“You little shit,” Louis playfully slapped his hip before going back to unzipping his skinnies to reveal that Harry had, in fact, forgotten his underpants when he’d dressed that morning.  “Who told you it was okay to adopt my sense of humour,” Louis muttered to himself and started to pull at his own clothes. 

He crawled up onto his bed once they were both naked, lying on his back and motioning for Harry to follow.  It was Louis’ favourite thing to thread his fingers through Harry’s curls and pull him down for a kiss, indulging in Harry’s soft lips for longer than they were usually able to.  

Harry was always a sure thing when it came to sex.  His brain was wired to respond directly to the scent of arousal and slick and, before he’d started wearing clothes more often, his dick always seemed to be at least partially hard whenever Louis was around.  Louis didn’t like to admit that seeing Harry that way was the reason his scent always had the edge of arousal to it. 

It was no different in bed and Harry’s cock was hard between them and rubbing against Louis’ own erection almost immediately.  Louis circled his legs around Harry’s slender waist and pulled them closer together, tugging gently at his hair until Harry’s chest started to rumble.  Louis grinned against his lips when he go the reaction he was looking for and bared his neck for Harry’s alpha to scent. 

“Knot me, Harry,” Louis whined, bucking up into him.  

Large hands gripped his hips and started to flip him over but Louis’ legs just tightened.  

“No, like this,” Louis breathed, hands falling out of his hair onto his shoulders.  

“Mate?” Harry asked, confused and gesturing for Louis to roll over and present.  

“You can do it like this too, we never have.”  

Louis nearly giggled at Harry’s confusion and pushed at Harry’s chest until he got the hint to sit back on his heels. It took a bit of wiggling for Louis to get his body into position, his ass cradled by the curve of Harry’s hips before steadying himself with a hand gripping each of Harry’s thighs and lifting each leg to hook over the alpha’s shoulders.  

Harry looked at how their bodies seemed tangled together and then looked back to Louis for help.  

“Yeah, I know.  Come on, this will feel good.”  They didn’t have a lot of conversations about sex but Louis did know that he had been Harry’s first.  They had sex to mate where Harry came from so they held out until they were ready to claim. They also tended to stick with the traditional mating position since it was the most instinctual and comfortable during a tie.  

Louis linked his fingers with Harry’s and slowly coaxed him down.  He seemed worry about bending Louis in half but Louis kept offering encouragements until Harry finally caught on.  The head of his dick slid against Louis’ hole and Louis almost laughed when he could literally see the light bulb go off through Harry’s eyes.  

“Yeah, like that.”  Louis moaned, taking advantage of the fact that none of his coworkers were around to hear him.  Harry was always loud and unashamed, grunting and moaning from start to finish so Louis never had to wonder if it was good.  

They’d never done it where Louis could easily see Harry’s face and he considered it a shame when Harry pushed in and groaned at the feeling of the changed angle.  Every little twitch played out on his face, mostly slack with eyes delicately closed and Louis could watch him for hours. The alpha seemed to startle himself when he opened his eyes and was met with Louis stare, smiling when he realized they could watch each other in the new position.  

There was almost always a point when a flip was switched and Harry’s body switched to auto alpha.  A few times, Louis had wished Harry could stay in the present but it was so good he couldn’t even argue.  He watched it happen for the first time just when Louis’ bed had started to squeak from the force of their motion.  The alpha’s eyes seemed to go glossy and unseeing, his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared out like a bull about to charge.  It was one of the hottest expressions Louis had ever seen. 

He knew he was in for a pounding then, Harry pistoning into him with purpose and grunting with the effort it took to thrust the beginning swell of his knot in and out until one final push and grind into Louis’ ass had his knot expanding fast and full.  The feeling always made Louis come, even if he already had, the size of it absolutely massive. A few times he’d even pulled up porn videos just to see if Harry’s knot was as impressive as he thought it was. From his research, it was his educated decision to say that Harry was definitely hung.  

It still turned him on if they were out in the habitat so Harry could be himself and Harry got into the mood to peacock for him.  Louis knew he would probably choose Harry for himself anyway if circumstances been different and they’d met when they were on the same level.  

It was more difficult for them to find a comfortable position on Louis’ bed once they were tied.  Harry usually just rolled them both onto their sides but instead, Harry just let himself collapse down to crush Louis under his weight.  

It really wasn’t so bad but Louis still made a show of pretending to be crushed until Harry was laughing and his knot started to tug uncomfortably.  

“Shhhh, sorry,” Louis soothed and ran his fingertips gently up and down Harry’s back.  

“I like having you in my bed,” Louis whispered once they’d calmed down and settled into each other.  

“I want bed,” Harry mumbled against Louis shoulder where the alpha was still scenting him.  

“This could be your bed,” Louis gently kissed the top of his alpha’s head.  They’d come so far since Louis was thrown into a panic even making eye contact.  They’d built the foundations of a life. “We could share. Would you like to life with me when you’re able?” 

Harry lifted his head and looked down at Louis through messy hair stuck to his face, “I stay with you?”   

“When you’re ready,” Louis nodded, “Would you like to?”  

Harry nodded and burrowed his face down against Louis’ neck to search out the bite that he had left.  The scar was faint, not as raised as most bonded omegas, but it was still there. The paramedics intervention in the early stages of the bond had blocked his body from accepting the full process though what had taken could never be undone.  The weakened state only caused Harry to be more possessive of the spot and Louis couldn’t deny that his omega loved the attention. 

“Then as soon as your comfortable, that’s what we’ll do.” 

Louis started to pet Harry’s hair as they waited out the tie, curled up in the privacy of their own home for what would hopefully be the first of many times.  Louis loved his wild. 

**Author's Note:**

> [ here's a tumblr post!](http://jaerie.tumblr.com/post/175954115352/the-wilds-e-13k-abo-by-jaerie-the-creatures)


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